Flyers' overpower Maple Leafs' rookie

Friday

TORONTO — Peter Laviolette has been saying novenas that he’d find a line combination for Danny Briere that worked before the playoffs began.

Looks like he found it, draping Brayden Schenn and Wayne Simmonds around Briere for the past four games as they’ve developed some instant chemistry just in time.

That line amassed four goals and nine points Thursday night at Air Canada Centre as the Flyers humiliated the Maple Leafs 7-1.

Schenn and Simmonds each scored two goals while Briere had four assists, making for a frightful first NHL start for rookie goalie Jussi Rynnas.

Coupled with yet another Pittsburgh loss to the Islanders, the Flyers drew to within two points of the 4th-seeded Penguins, who have 100 points, setting up a fascinating Sunday showdown in Pittsburgh.

“We had a couple of bounces and we’ve found some chemistry with Simmonds and Briere,” said Schenn, who delighted his parents and two sisters in attendance. “We’ve been playing pretty well of late and didn’t get bounces. We got some tonight.”

Their line has seven goals over the last four games.

“The Briere line, you could see it coming,” Laviolette said. “For me, that’s always the first step. It doesn’t necessarily have to translate to the score sheet. But you can see the line is getting opportunities and you go back and watch the quality chances for and against and their line is involved a lot.

“They’re generating a lot of good things in the offensive zone. Now they get that opportunity to actually cash in and make things happen. That’s nice to see.”

Now, the Flyers lost starting goalie Ilya Bryzgalov this week because of an injury during warm-ups.

Same thing happened to the Maple Leafs during warm-ups tonight when veteran Leafs goalie Jonas Gustavsson took a shot off the left knee, forcing Rynnas into action.

For the umpteenth time, it was the rookies who carried the Flyers’ scoring load, in this case, four goals.

“They were really good,” Laviolette said. “[Sean] Couturier’s line against the other team’s top line for eight, nine games now has been really terrific.

“Matt Read jumped in and had a big night. The two, young defensemen [Erik Gustafsson, Marc-Andre Bourdon] did a great job. Schenner comes in and scores some big goals. It was a good contribution from everybody.”

It allowed Sergie Bobrovsky, making only his second start this month, an easier path. He faced just 17 shots.

Defensively (one Leafs shot in 13 minutes at the start), and offensively, the Flyers made it easy on Bobrovsky, who may have to carry the load if Bryzgalov (chip fracture/right foot) is out longer than expected.

“It’s tough and challenging, but I just went out and played,” Bobrovsky said via a translator. “My job is to catch the pucks when they’re going my way. When the game starts, it’s 0-0. But yes, the (goal) support is important.”

Laviolette framed it perfectly.

“We wanted to make sure we gave Bob a fighting chance,” he said. “We talked about it to make sure guys were dialed in on the right side of the puck.”

They were, right from the get-go.

With older brother Luke playing for the Leafs, Brayden gave his family a bit of a show with two goals in the first period. That’s 11 goals this season.

“When Gustavsson got hurt, I just wanted to fire pucks,” Schenn said of his game plan.

His first goal was odd as a blocked shot saw the puck go high in the air. It fell at Schenn’s feet before anyone else knew it. He quickly rifled it past Rynnas.

Thanks to a double-minor to Jay Rosehill, the Flyers got a four-minute power play and Schenn capitalized again at 11:01.

This time, it was Jaromir Jagr springing Briere into the Leafs’ zone on a 2-on-1 with Briere giving way to Schenn on an easy tap-in.

“Our line has been playing well lately and hopefully, we can keep that going,” Briere said. “It can help out offensively if all the lines are scoring.”

Three minutes later, however, on just their third shot, Tim Connolly gave Mikhail Grabovski a stretch pass just beyond the reach of Sean Couturier. The Russian got it in full stride for a breakaway backhander.

Simmonds, who broke a 16-game goal drought against Tampa Bay, picked up his second in as many games at 3:58 of the season period with both teams skating 4-on-4, making it 3-1.

His two goals left him with 25 for the season.

“It’s nice to have good game at home and I have a lot of people here,” said Simmonds, who grew up in Scarborough, Ont. “The last game we came in here and didn’t so much. To show them I can actually play hockey is nice.”

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